TOP TEN GATEWAY MYTHS

The Gateway Project proposal includes new and expanded port infrastructure, highways, bridges, rail yards, and container terminals to facilitate importing more goods from China and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific and exporting more of B.C.’s non-renewable resources.

Key features include:
• tripling Delta’s port capacity to accommodate three times more trucks to move container goods through the GVRD and beyond

• building a South Fraser Perimeter Road along the south side of the Fraser River from Highway 1 to Deltaport

• widening Highway 1 from Vancouver to Langley

•  replacing the Port Mann with a 10 lane mega freeway bridge

• building a North Fraser Perimeter Road along the north shore of the Fraser, between the Queensborough Bridge and the new Golden Ears Bridge

Myth 1: Gateway will create Many Jobs
Myth 2: Gateway will Reduce Carbon Emissions
Myth 3: Gateway will Solve Traffic Congestion
Myth 4: The Gateway Freeways are part of a Balanced Approach
Myth 5: We Need Bigger Ports Now!
Myth 6: Gateway will not Cause Sprawl
Myth 7: Public Transit South of the Fraser River is a Bad Investment
Myth 8: Tolling the Port Mann Bridge will Reduce Congestion and Pay for Construction
Myth 9: Burns Bog is not Threatened by Gateway 
Myth 10: Gateway is a "Done Deal"

Myth 1: Gateway will create Many Jobs

The Provincial Government claims the Port Mann / Highway 1 freeway expansion “will create an estimated 8000 construction jobs”.1

The truth is, port and freeway building is about the worst possible way to attempt job creation. The BC Treasury Board estimates that a "1 million transit expenditure creates an average of 21.4 new jobs, compared to 7.5 jobs for the same automotive expense"; that is almost three times as many jobs per dollar invested. 2  A recent Sustainable Prosperity Canada report says investments in public transit are the #1 green economic stimulus option for Canada, whereas freeway and port expansions were ranked #21 and #22 – second and third from the very bottom.3 Furthermore; unlike transit jobs that are long term employment highway construction is contract work.

Gateway could create jobs treating asthma and other health problems. Photo by dieselbug2007

However, the BC Government did find that Gateway would create employment treating childhood asthma, lung cancer, and other heath problems; their environmental assessment report states, “with increased air pollution there can possibly be increased employment (e.g. in the health sector) because of the economic activity associated with correcting the results of its impacts”.4

Myth 2: Gateway will Reduce Carbon Emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions drastically alter our climate and this crisis is one of the greatest threats we face today on the planet earth. The Provincial Government of BC claims the Gateway Program will “reduce congestion and associated GHGs from idling vehicles” that create our changing climate.5

The reality is much different. New freeways create congestion during and after construction. Environment Canada strongly agrees that the Gateway Program will contribute to a “deterioration of air quality and an increase in GHG emissions” and even went so far as to characterize the provinces assertians as "potentially misleading." 6

Myth 3: Gateway will Solve Traffic Congestion

The BC Government claims that “one of the main objectives of the Port Mann / Highway 1 improvements is to reduce congestion.”7

When you build Los Angeles style freeways, you get LA style traffic jams. Photo by Atwater Village Newbie

It is proven that freeways do not reduce congestion in the short or long term despite what the BC Government thinks. A recent study found that “widening and building new highways actually causes, not relieves, traffic congestion” in major U.S. metropolitan areas.8  Researchers claim it only takes a few months before congestion returns, and why would Vancouver be any different? When you build LA style freeways, you get LA style traffic congestion and LA style smog. The only way proven way to reduce congestion and pollution is to improve public transit.9

Myth 4: The Gateway Freeways are part of a Balanced Approach

BC Transportation Minister Falcon states “transit alone is not the solution… ensuring that we have a balanced approach to improving transportation infrastructure will take us into the future in a manner that is environmentally and economically sustainable.”10

Our Provincial Government has over-invested in roads and neglected transit for decades. It is now time to re-invest in Metro Vancouver’s overwhelmed public transit system. Translink’s first 5 Year Strategic Plan calculated the region would need a 1600-bus fleet by 2006. We are about 500 short of this goal. More alarmingly, the Provincial Government needs a rapid doubling of transit ridership to meet their 33% GHG emissions reduction by 2020 while Translink lacks the funding to even maintain present service levels.11

Myth 5: We Need Bigger Ports Now!

BC Transportation Minister Falcon justified spending billions by stating “container traffic through B.C. ports is expected to increase 300% over the next 15 years”.12

In reality, container volumes are actually declining as massive port capacity increases come online, such as the new facility in Prince Rupert. Container volumes through Metro Vancouver declined in 2008 and are expected to fall steeply in 2009.13  Moreover, the completion of the Panama Canal in 2014 and the melting of the Northwest Passage will allow ships to head directly to North America’s east coast.

However if indeed that 300% increase did occur then the implications both for congestion levels caused by a 300% increase in deisel trucks coming off the port and a 300% increase in emissions from shipping vessels and deisel trucks would be disasterous.

Myth 6: Gateway will not Cause Sprawl

The Provincial Government denies the significant impacts Gateway infrastructure will have on B.C.’s reputable farmland and claims freeway expansion will not cause urban sprawl onto agricultural land.

Freeway expansion is the dominant cause of sprawl in North America and Metro Vancouver is no exception. Smart Growth BC states “increasing capacity for car travel will generate more sprawling land use patterns, put pressure on rural lands for further development, and reduce opportunities for daily physical activity."14  Environment Canada agrees, stating that expanded highways “influences land use planning [and] enables car-dependent lifestyles.”15

In the highly unlikely event sprawl does not eat up BC’s reputable farmland, farmers still require an increase in “irrigated food-producing land to ensure BC’s residents have access to healthy food.”16  The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands’ 2007 BC’s Food Self-Reliance report states by 2025, farmers will need 227,336 acres above 2005 levels (467,029 acres) to do so.17  The BC governments Agricultural Land Comission has voted already to take some of our best farmland in Delta out of the Agricultural Land Reserve for the South Fraser Perimeter Road and Hudson's Bay Company heritage farm in Langley, BC's first colonial farm, is now also in danger.18

Myth 7: Public Transit South of the Fraser River is a Bad Investment

The Provincial Government falsely accused residents living south of the Fraser River of being unwilling to ride public transit and thus claims transit improvements would not work.19 

The Provincial Government refuses to acknowledge that 59% of people south of the Fraser River want their tax dollars redirected from highways to transit as indicated in a poll conducted by Synovate for the Suzuki Foundation and the Livable Region Coalition in 2008. The immense desire for improved public transit is not surprising as suburbs south of the Fraser River have transitioned into high density housing with a grossly inadequate transit service.20  In particular, the City of Surrey and Langley City have the densities to support and require a high quality urban transit network.21 

Myth 8: Tolling the Port Mann Bridge will Reduce Congestion and Pay for Construction

The Provincial Government says tolling the Port Mann Bridge will reduce congestion and at the same time pay for its construction.

In order for the Provincial Government to reduce congestion as well as pay for its construction, it must implement a very high toll price. Minimal toll prices rarely reduce use much as proven in New York City where they witnessed a very quick re-congestion from induced traffic even though the new bridges and turnpikes were first tolled.22  The Provincial Government aims to implement a $3 per pass toll, equating roughly $1,500 in added expense for Surrey and Langley drivers ($3 per pass x twice a day x 5 days per week).23  More importantly, tolling the Port Mann Bridge will impact low-income families the most. These families are forced to move to the cheaper suburbs and commute to the city for work.

Myth 9: Burns Bog is not Threatened by Gateway

Transportation Minister Falcon said that the South Fraser Perimeter Road “has been shifted farther to the west of the Burns Bog in order to further minimize any potential effects of this project".24 

A portion of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, a proposed freeway, has been realigned further from the Bog BUT moved deeper into agricultural land. Wherever the freeway is put, it will negatively impact endangered wildlife, such as on the Red-backed Vole, and endangered ecosystems.25 

Bogs are very important carbon sinks, helping to control global warming; but if the water table drops as is almost inevitable when roads and ditches are built, bogs release massive quantities of greenhouse gases.26  Protecting bogs is one the most important actions we can take to control global warming.

It seems the Provincial Government forgot they signed a protective covenant stating "the province, Delta and GVRD shall NOT do anything, or allow anything to be done that does or could reasonably be expected to destroy, impair, diminish, negatively affect, or alter the bog.”27  Other sensitive areas such as Surrey Bend Park would also be negatively impacted.

Myth 10: Gateway is a "Done Deal"

The Vancouver Sun reported Transportation Minister Falcon said the Gateway project “will go ahead, whatever the outcome of consultations with the public and local governments.”28

It’s never a done deal. The Wilderness Committee has worked with many community groups and environmental organizations and many harmful projects have been stopped usually after contracts were signed and politicians have claimed they were a done deal.

Photo: Vancouver Museum display on the fight to save Chinatown and other neighbourhoods from freeways, a fight won after the Georgia Viaduct portion of the freeway was started. Photo by Eric Doherty

Some projects are stopped even after construction is under way. Take for example the construction of the Georgia Viaduct which was the begining of a proposed elevated freeway to connect downtown and Highway 1. The viaduct was built in the 1971 but the freeway system was not due to public outcry. Citizens successfully stopped the demolishing of buildings in Strathcona, the Downtown Eastside and Chinatown as well stoping highway development throughout the region.

We can still turn this plan around before our farmland, Burns Bog and so much more is more seriously threatened. We don't need to spend billions of dollars on building a bigger Port Mann parking lot. Its our money, lets spend it wisely.

References:

  1 Gateway Program (no date) Port Mann/Highway 1 Contractor Selection. www.th.gov.bc.ca/gateway/PMH1/contrctr_select.htm
  2 Canadian Urban Transit Association (2003) Transit Means Business: The Economic Case for Public Transit in Canada. www.transitaction.ca/issuepapers/IP5.pdf
  3 Sustainable Prosperity (2009) Building A Green Economic Stimulus Package for Canada. www.sustainableprosperity.ca/papers/green-economic-stimulus-package-cana...
  4 Ministry of Transportation (2006) South Fraser Perimeter Road Regional Air Quality Impact Assessment: Technical Volume 16 of the Environmental Impact Assessment. Pg. 39.  (See also: www.sunburyneighbourhood.ca/Response2EAOMay2007.htm)
  5 British Columbia’s Climate Action Plan (2008) www.gov.bc.ca/premier/attachments/climate_action_plan.pdf
  6 Environment Canada (2007). Port Mann \ Highway 1 – Environmental Assessment (EA) Review Environment Canada’s Comments on Project Application. Pg. 2. a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/epic/documents/p247/1199903039857_087b25cb4629463d8ffcee1a6c0d6a0e.pdf
  7 Gateway Program (no date). Regional Air Quality. www.th.gov.bc.ca/gateway/PMH1/docs/env/FactSheets_sept14_4pm.pdf
  8 Tanya Albert (January 13, 2000) “Widening Roads Worsens Traffic Congestion” Cincinnati Enquirer. www.walkablestreets.com/widen2.htm
  9 Eric Doherty (2006)Transportation for a Sustainable Region: Transit or Freeway Expansion? www.livableregion.ca/pdf/Transport_for_a_Sustainable_Region.pdf
  10 Kevin Falcon (June 4, 2008) GATEWAY AND PORT MANN/HIGHWAY 1 HELPS LOWER MAINLAND http://www.gov.bc.ca/fortherecord/investments/tran_oe_gateway_june_4_fin...
  11 BC Climate Action Plan (2008) www.livesmartbc.ca/government/plan.html; www.vancouversun.com/sports/Metro+mayors+unanimously+call+share+carbon+r...
  12 Correspondence with Wilma Haig, Ladner BC (2008), at www.againstportexpansion.org/downloads/wilma_email.pdf
  13 Against Port Expansion (2009) LATEST PORT CONTAINER VOLUMES AND FORECASTS SHOW THERE IS NO NEED FOR ROBERTS BANK TERMINAL 2. www.againstportexpansion.org/downloads/container_forecasts.pdf
  14 Smart Growth BC. 2005 Annual Report. www.smartgrowth.bc.ca/Portals/0/Downloads/2005SGBC.pdf
  15 Environment Canada (2007). Technical Appendix: Environmental Assessment of Port Mann / Highway 1. Pg. 5.
  16 www.ffcf.bc.ca/PDFs%20&%20Linked%20Documents/BCfoodselfreliance.pdf
  17 www.ffcf.bc.ca/PDFs%20&%20Linked%20Documents/BCfoodselfreliance.pdf
  18 www.theprovince.com/columnists/Gateway+mega+projects+running+into+opposi...
  19 Eric Doherty (2007) Taken for a Ride. www.livableregion.ca/pdf/Taken_For_A_Ride_April2507%5B1%5D.pdf
  20 www.livableregion.ca/pdf/Transport_for_a_Sustainable_Region.pdf
  21 www.livableregion.ca/pdf/Taken_For_A_Ride_April2507%5B1%5D.pdf
  22 Jane Jacobs (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities
  23 Keith Reynolds (2009) http://bcelection.policyalternatives.ca/2009/02/12/they-dont-pay-taxes-i...
  24 Correspondence with Wilma Haig, Ladner BC (2008); at http://www.againstportexpansion.org/downloads/wilma_email.pdf
  25 Environment Canada (Nov. 19, 2007) Re: South Fraser Perimeter Road Environmental Assessment http://www.burnsbog.org/PDF/EnvCanadaLetterNov2007.pdf
  26 UNEP (2007) Peatlands are Quick and Cost-Effective Measure to reduce 10% of greenhouse emissions. www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=523&ArticleID...
  27 http://www.sunburyneighbourhood.ca/PDF/MinisterPennerJuly2008.pdf
  28 Vancouver Sun July 31 2004